Electric forces is not action-by-distance. Charged particle emits a electric field radially outwards. It corresponds by the inverse-square, meaning it is 1/r^2.
The correct answer is:
the distance of the orbiting object to Earth.
In fact, we know that the gravitational force that keeps the object in circular motion around the Earth is equal to the centripetal force, so we can write:
If we re-arrange the equation, we find an expression for the tangential speed of the object:
and we see that it depends on 3 quantities: G, M (the mass of the Earth) and r (the distance of the object from the Earth).
To determine the energy equivalent of an object, we use the famous equation of Einstein which is E=mc^2 where m is the mass of the object and c is the speed of light (3x10^8 m/s). We calculate as follows:
E = mc^2
E = 1.83 kg (3x10^8 m/s)^2
E = 1.647x10^17 J
True. Classifying by similarities is the basis for biological classification.